Experimental and FLUKA study relevant to the production of 124 I through nat Te(p,xn) reaction at a medium-sized cyclotron

In this study, 124I PET positron emitter was produced by 29.5 MeV protons irradiation of natural tellurium electroplated on a nickel-coated copper substrate at a current of 150.3 μA h. The routinely separation method of ion-exchange chromatography was adopted and 93% efficiency was achieved for this process. The average yield of 124I at the End of Bombardment (EOB) was 3.9 MBq/μA h (0.105 mCi/μA h). Additionally, the production process was simulated by the FLUKA, and the yield of 4.3 MBq/μA h (0.116 mCi/μA h) was estimated at the EOB for produced 124I. A reasonable agreement was achieved between the simulation results and experimental data.